Bulgarian commercial bank Economic and Investment Bank (EIBank) has co-financed the construction of a 12 million euro ($14.4 million) spa complex near the town of Razlog, close to the country's major ski resort of Bansko, an official said on Monday.

"We have secured 8.5 million euro of the funding for the complex, following our policy to invest in tourism," EIBank public relations manager Dimitar Bogdanov told SeeNews.

The investor in the complex, opened during the weekend, is Bulgaria-registered firm Katarino SPA. The company is a fully-owned subsidiary of local construction company Balkanstroy, which has built the centre.

The spa complex, covering an area of 1.8 hectares, includes a four-star hotel with over 130 rooms and a nearby village with 68 houses, all of them for sale.

Razlog is located six kilometres north of Bansko in the Pirin mountain. Bulgaria, where tourism is an important driving force for the economy, has two other major ski resorts, Pamporovo and Borovets.

EIBank, Bulgaria's ninth largest bank in terms of assets as of end-August, has extended over 50 million euro loans for tourism projects since the beginning of 2005.